


hearing colors, seeing your voice

by cherrybaeks



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 04:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20633060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybaeks/pseuds/cherrybaeks
Summary: Chanyeol has had a melody stuck in his mind his whole life. The problem is, he is able toseesounds in the form of colors.





	hearing colors, seeing your voice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dejakyu (dietsoba)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dietsoba/gifts).

> Oh god dear recipient! I'm sorry this turned like this T.T but I hope you enjoy even a little bit of this short fic and please don't hate me for turning your beautiful prompt into this mess. Honestly, I loved your prompts so much that I was between writing like 3 of them. Thank you so much to the mod for bearing with me, you deserve the world. Thank you all the readers who give this a try. Some clarifications, what happens to Chanyeol is based on chromesthesia (a type of synesthesia), however, in the story it isn't a known phenomenon and there are few changes here and there. Also this is mostly Chanyeol-Centric tho. Thank you everyone again <3

"Shit." Chanyeol exclaimed when he almost tripped and fell down to the floor. Luckily, he managed to avoid a major embarrassment in front of total strangers nor causing his ripped jeans to have a new addition in their hole collection.

At least he had achieved a win today.

Chanyeol looked at the watch on his left wrist, hoping for either the minutes to stop passing that fast or for them go back in time -an hour ago preferably, thank you very much-. He was in a rush because he got so distracted last night that he forgot to plug in his phone, which caused the battery to run off and the next morning's alarms to _ not _ring, as expected.

It had to happen the day he had promised Yixing he will be at the office.

Now he was walking as fast as he could, trying to not bump into anyone. Thank God he was taller than the average thus had long legs that helped him to speed through the city.

How could he forget to plug in his phone?

Right. Because he had a random spark of inspiration and decided to start working on a new song. At 2 a.m. Like a normal person who had to wake up early to work would do it.

Totally.

In his defense, Chanyeol was actually laying on his bed, ready to be in the arms of Morpheus. Although, there was something missing there. It was a quite a quiet night, not even the sound of wind passing through trees' leaves could be heard. Wooyu, his fluffy white ball of a dog, was deep asleep. She used to fill Chanyeol's room with low snores every night. Not today, though. Chanyeol couldn't get distracted with her neither.

Silence was something Chanyeol hated. He couldn't stand it. If some people were afraid of darkness, others of small spaces, then Chanyeol was afraid of quietness. 

Usually, he would put some calm music, pouring rain sounds or whatever his playlist decided to play at the moment. Although, this time Chanyeol had gotten up and grabbed the nearest instrument his hand could reach, his guitar, and started to thrum the strings. 

Because apparently he had no self control.

One moment he was playing some chords, and the next it was almost 5am and he was too sleepy to properly function.

New song. Phone battery long forgotten.

Now he was going to be late, and that will cause a mad Yixing, someone who Chanyeol wasn't ready to handle. Why did he think that staying up late was a good idea?

It certainly wasn't.

And yes, he was _ screwed _.

But this wasn't a time for regrets because he really needed to get his ass in Exordium Records as soon as possible.

Chanyeol guessed that people must be looking weirdly at him. He knew he was a mess right now, with his hair all messed up and his mismatched socks. He wouldn't be surprised if he was wearing his shirt inside out. He hoped that wasn't the case.

The street was full of vehicles, the traffic was heavy and more than one car was honking. A construction was near, there were so many pedestrians walking and there was a dog barking not too far away. He hated going out during the rush hours for this precise reason. The amount of noise coming from all directions caused random shades of grey coming from everywhere, in some cases random color clouds popped out when he was near enough of a person to catch the tone of their voice if they were talking.

Normally, it wouldn't affect him too much. He would just ignore the disturbance surrounding him. Park Chanyeol did hate silence. However, there were times where this amount of noise could overwhelm him.

And today was one of those days.

He regretted not going out earlier than everyone, as he used to do.

Chanyeol was with his eyes focused on the floor so he wouldn't trip with his own feet _ again, _when he heard certain notes in his head. The same that have been with him since he was a kid. Luckily, it embellished the amount of smoky clouds in his vision, filling it with bright colors as soon as Chanyeol recognized the melody.

Chanyeol started to humming it right away. He knew that notes like the palm of his hand. The melody, quite literally, light it up his day when it showed up. So the tall man continued his way walking with a small smile on his face. His thoughts now in the melody instead of the noisy street life.

When he reached an intersection and changed his direction, a sharp, deafening sound came out of nowhere that caused the melody to stop altogether. It happened so fast that Chanyeol didn't notice it until his whole vision was unexpected covered in nothing but pure white.

It blinded him for a moment.

He didn't know where it came from. Perhaps it was a construction near him, the horn of a large truck or an ambulance passing. Chanyeol didn't notice what it was, nor he could check it.

This was the main reason as to why he avoided going out at rush hours. He felt vulnerable when this kind of things happened and he was alone in the street. Despite that Kyungsoo once suggested that he shouldn't be out without earplugs, Chanyeol refused to wear them. They were uncomfortable, and it wasn't like this occurred often. Chanyeol insisted that it was not a major problem. So he, never used the pair that Kyungsoo so kindly gifted him.

The tall man leaned on the nearest wall his arm could touch and stood there for a couple of minutes, waiting for the whiteness to fade away and let him see the world in front of him.

The possibility of arriving at least not-so-late had vanished now.

-

Yixing didn't scold him as much as Chanyeol imagined when he arrived to the company. An outcome better than expected, he should say.

Exordium Records was a small company. It was a project of Junmyeon and Yixing that began some years ago. Chanyeol landed the job as one of the producers because he was friends with Junmyeon since his college days.

It was a nice job, in Chanyeol’s opinion. The income was more than decent enough to live well, and he was doing something that he loved to do. He had worked on a couple of albums for their girl group and now he was producing songs for a new soloist they will debut next april. Chanyeol couldn't be more pleased and happy. 

It wasn't always like that, though. His mom initially had wanted him to get a business or finance degree, however, he dropped out of college after he realized that numbers that made no sense to him was something he couldn't do for the rest of his life. At least, he got something good out of his short yet stressful college experience, he had met Junmyeon there.

Which is what brought him here.

Everything happens for a reason, as his sister often said. If it wasn't for his mom's demands nothing of this would have happened.

After the meet with Yixing, Chanyeol went with Jongdae to the studio. Jongdae was the new male soloist of the company, a talent that Yixing discovered through Youtube. Jongdae had some covers up in his channel that showcased the potential he had. They had to contact him and sign him as soon as possible. Jongdae turned out to be as talented as his videos and in addition, a good person that Chanyeol could count on. He ended up being more of a new friend than a coworker.

They were recording a demo of a song that he and Jongdae wrote few days ago. It resulted amazing. Chanyeol felt like that song could pass the cut and be on the album. Despite that he was pretty much sleep deprived, he could still do his magic at the recording studio. Plus, the power that had Jongdae's voice couldn't be rivaled.

Everything was going excellent until he heard the melody for the second time in a day, causing Chanyeol to slightly lost his focus. Usually, the melody would stop after few seconds. However, this time it got prolonged, lasting more than the typical. Similar to what happened earlier before the shrill interrupted it.

"Is it happening again?" Jongdae asked with concern, coming out of the recording booth. Green adding itself to the color mix automatically.

Chanyeol barely nodded as a reply. He was with his eyes closed and the tip of his fingers were mildly pinching the bridge of his nose while he was trying to concentrate in the melody in his head. Bubbles of color appearing in the dark pitch black, dancing around the void.

Like it always has been.

This was not the first time that something like this had happened, certainly nor the last time it would do neither.

One of the things that he knew for a fact was that the blast of different colors clouds in his visual field wasn't something temporary. It was something that never stopped.

Some people could consider that Park Chanyeol had such a weird trait. Seeing colors? Not possible. Nor that he was ashamed of it, this was was a part of him that he appreciated. He couldn't imagine living a life without this perception of the world. Even though that Chanyeol didn't go shouting from the rooftops about his colored vision, most people that knew about it thought that it was _ 'awesome' _, like Jongdae had said the first time Chanyeol told him about his condition.

Chanyeol felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes again to see his friend, "We can take a break if you want." Jongdae tried.

"I'm alright. Don't worry 'bout it." The taller assured the other man.

There was really no problem. He could continue with what they were doing. Chanyeol was used to the colors appearing every time his ears catched a noise. He have had colors clouding his vision during all his life.

Although, this one was different.

Chanyeol had heard the exact same melody since he was a little kid. It had never changed as years passed. He remembers humming it while coloring some drawings at kindergarten, or the melody appearing at the back of his mind when he was in the middle of an exam in high school. It always appeared when he less expected it.

It was a constant in Chanyeol's life.

The colors continued dancing in his vision for more seconds, Chanyeol thought that maybe it could finally reach the end of the tune. However, the melody stopped abruptly and so did the bright colors.

Like it always happened.

Chanyeol had never heard the full piece of the melody, only the first notes of it.

The tall man shook his head in disappointment and continued the recording session with Jongdae.

-

The first time that Chanyeol found out that what he experienced wasn't as normal as he thought was during his first year of middle school.

"Guys! Have you heard this song?" A version of him from years ago had said excitedly to his group of friends. He was talking about a catchy pop song that he heard on the radio while his mother was driving him to the school, "I love the beat so much! It is so pink! You have to heard it. It is the perfect summer song."

A young Park Chanyeol thought that everyone could see colors every time they heard something so he was very much confused when Kyungsoo replied with a "What do you mean?"

"The song? Don't you see it? It is very pink and orange, it's like a chewing gum in a sunny day."

"I don't see it...?" Another one of his friends, Minho, said lowly.

"Me neither." Kyungsoo agreed then, "Songs don't have color Yeol."

So he was left disconcerted that day.

Due to his color seeing vision, he could see the world different from others. Every single thing that produced a sound, even the lowest that couldn’t be heard normally, generated a color in his vision field.

Every single thing in Chanyeol's life had a color associated with it. Every note or key had and specific shade color that didn't change through. Music, voices, _ anything _.

His mom's voice was coral, his sister's was amethyst purple. Moreover, Jongdae's voice was a forest green that had some sort of soothing feeling when he spoke, it accentuated more when he sang. Even the sound of Wooyu's barks, his so beloved samoyed dog, were associated with a very light pink.

One of the big two unknowns in his life was _ why _this happened to him. He had tried to research about the issue, reading almost every book in the local library and asking the doctors if they have seen something similar before. However, he found no answer.

This _ 'ability' _did come handy though, specially when music is your passion. 

He discovered his love for music ever since his father gifted him a guitar for his 8th birthday. Ever since Chanyeol had learned how to play different instruments all by himself, he was often found in his room with an instrument in his hands, trying to play the correct notes so that could create an harmony that resembled what he was seeing. He always got so immersed in it that he could easily lost track of time and more often than not his mother or sister had to drag him out of his bedroom. It came to a point where Chanyeol could heard any song and play it just by ear and following the shades displaying in his eyes.

No wonder that he ended producing music, creating his own harmonies that created a unique painting in his eyes.

The problem was that there was certain melody that he couldn't recreate as accurate as he saw it.

The one that had been with him for his entire life.

Exactly like how he didn't understood about his color vision, he didn't know where the melody had come from.

That was the other big unknown in Chanyeol's life. 

_ Why did he heard this certain melody? Why was it so special? _

It was unlike from any other sound he had heard before. Chanyeol was sure that it didn't come from a song, it wasn't someone's voice neither and there was no chances it could be an object when most of them were a dull greyscale while this one was full of _ life _. So it didn't come from a memory.

This one was so different from everything else.

When it popped in Chanyeol's mind, all he could see was a flow of iridescent colors coming from everywhere. Shining, moving and glowing.

No matter how many instruments Chanyeol played, it will never be the same. He had tried countless of times to replicate the melody that he had stuck in his mind all his life and it never resulted as bright and colorful as he mind portrayed it.

It didn't. Never.

The fact that it was incomplete didn’t help neither.

He had never heard it from beginning to end since the melody had the tendency to stop halfway. He wasn't sure why. It just happened. It disappeared.

_ Why did he heard half of it? _

He had been eager to hear the rest of it since he was a kid, but all his wishes weren't successful. Every time Chanyeol thought the melody will not stop, whatever will interrupt it.

Chanyeol was afraid that he would never know the answer to those questions. 

-

Jongdae was talking but Chanyeol was paying near zero attention to it. His mind was too distracted at this moment to listen how his friend was talking about his upcoming album. Or it was the new stray cat that he had adopted? Chanyeol didn't knew.

His mind was only full with thoughts of what had happened the last days.

A glowing rainbow invaded his vision of the studio.

What?

Chanyeol usually saw it when the melody made a comeback to his mind. 

"Chanyeol, are you hearing me?" Jongdae protested.

"No, sorry." Chanyeol shook his head, "What were you talking about?"

On the corner of his eyes, he saw how a bright magenta was now fading into pale pink, almost disappearing, while at the other side what started as an ultra violet discolored into a merely lavender.

Chanyeol was sure he hadn’t heard the melody.

"I was saying that I found the perfect artist to make the artwork for the album."

"Who?" Chanyeol asked, to seem like he was actually listening to him.

"Byun Baekhyun. I found him on Instagram the other day. I seriously think that Instagram was spying on me because his profile showed up as a suggestions the exact moment I was thinking about the artwork." Jongdae took his phone out, perhaps to look for the account of said artist, "I suggested him to Junmyeon, he will contact him. I was surprised when he accepted that fast."

Chanyeol’s vision field turned into a full light show now. There were tiny sparks everywhere. It overshadowed Jongdae's usual green.

"The melody again?" His friend asked when he saw how Chanyeol drifted away from the conversation for a second time in the span of ten minutes. The colors had appeared despite that there was no sound in his mind.

Chanyeol's eyes got fixated on the wall, "No, no… Maybe yes?"

"What do you mean?" 

"I..." Chanyeol stopped for few seconds, trying to make sense of this situation, "I actually saw it but I didn’t hear the music? You were the only one talking."

Jongdae's brows got closer, "I don't understand."

"I am as confused as you are Jongdae." Chanyeol directed his gaze towards his friend again, "This is the first time that I have seen it without the melody."

"Are you sure? Your mind was somewhere else. For all we know, you could have heard it and didn't realize it was there."

"Jongdae, do you think I could mistake it? I literally know that song more than anything."

“Touché. It makes it weirder tho.”

Jongdae was right. It was unusual for Chanyeol to see that reaction without the melody.

-

Chanyeol glanced at his phone screen to know who was the incoming call. It was Yoora, his older sister.

No surprise she was calling.

Few days ago Chanyeol had promised that he will visit her today after finishing work. She must be calling for a confirmation since Chanyeol had a tendency to stay at the studio more hours than needed.

Although, Chanyeol hadn't forgotten about it. He was in the middle of a bakery's queue to buy her something that hopefully will fulfill her sweet cravings. Being pregnant wasn't easy.

"Hey there." He greeted as he picked up the call.

"Hello baby bro." Chanyeol's lips curved into a smile a smile when he saw the little dots of purple. 

"When will you come Yeol? I forgot to ask and now I don't know if I should begin cooking dinner now or- Wait will you come, right?" 

"Yeah yeah. I'm actually on my way in a bit, I'm buying something first." He said while he stared at the dozens of pastries in front of him, "Will you prefer something with chocolate or strawberries? Or do you want something else?"

"I prefer you. I want to see you baby brother, you are always busy these times. I miss hanging out with you."

"First of all, I'm not baby. I stopped being one the moment I became taller than you. Second, it's because Dae's album, you know I want to see you too." Then Chanyeol proceed to order a box of cupcakes for her. He thought Yoora would like it since it had different cupcake flavors. Kudos to variety.

"Say hi to Jongdae for me, please. He is a good kid.”

"I'll do it." Chanyeol nodded and murmured a soft ‘thank you’ to the young girl after he paid and picked the box up.

"Yeol?" His sister spoke lowly this time, he barely had listened to her, the voice Yoora usually uses when she wants something from him.

"What now Yoora?" He asked while opening the door to exit the place. Chanyeol hoped that his sister didn’t have a sudden craving after she had said she didn’t fancy anything special -although Chanyeol knows that he would still buy her anything she wants- 

"You will always be my baby brother."

He didn’t had the chance to answer since the multicolor performance had started again, thus the melody too.

As usual note after after note playing in the back of his mind. By instinct, Chanyeol hummed the melody even though his sister was still on the line.

He followed the notes until it reached a point that he didn’t recognize anymore. A part that he had been desiring to discover.

The melody hadn’t stopped.

And Chanyeol almost dropped the box of cupcakes he was holding when realization dawned on him.

"Yeol? Yeol? Are you there?" He could hear how worried Yoora was, but his attention was somewhere else.

He must be dreaming. It _ couldn’t _be. Right?

Chanyeol stood there, in the middle of the street, completely frozen. Listening how he was hearing what seemed like the missing part of the melody. It was being whispered softly, like if someone’s was singing a lullaby to a little kid.

After all these years Chanyeol had thought the melody wasn’t a voice, although he swore he was hearing someone singing it.

Chanyeol was looking at everyone around him, trying to find the owner of the voice. People were walking to towards their destinations, not minding the tall. Random faces coming and going. No one that he recognized.

No one that was singing.

Perhaps he was dreaming after all.

-

It had been close to a week after he believed he heard the rest of the melody, and still Chanyeol hadn’t stopped thinking about it.

He had tried to remember every single note that followed the new ones. They were a treasure that Chanyeol didn’t know he could find. He had obsessed about it, trying to play it as whole at any chance he had.

Was it really the other half of it?

What if he imagined the whole scenario?

Chanyeol’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard a door opening and greenery appeared, “Are you at it again?”

Chanyeol’s fingers slightly touching the piano keys in front of him, "Yeah..."

Jongdae sat on the sofa near the piano "What if that's your soulmate connection?" He then suggested.

"Do you believe in those?" An skeptical Chanyeol said aloud, turning to his friend. 

"Of course I do." Jongdae said with confidence, “Don’t look at me like that. It’s just an suggestion because I am sure hearing random voices and melodies that you happen to actually _ see _is not normal.”

"It has happened to you, though? Last time I knew you were as single as me and you weren’t interested in anyone."

_ Soulmate _.

Chanyeol had heard about that term before. It was an old legend that grandmothers told to their grandchildren. It was said that some people had some kind of connection to their fated other half. Two individuals who the stars had destined to be together. The idea had always seemed like a fairy tale to tell children, he had never met someone who had met the person .

His friend shook his head, twice, "Not actually. I know people who have experienced it."

"Who?" He couldn't help to ask, Chanyeol was a curious person.

"Do you know that singing classes I took few weeks ago?” Jongdae waited for Chanyeol to nod and continued, “Well, I met this Kyuhyun guy who had a mark on his arm, it was a word in someone else’s handwriting. I saw it, it was like a tattoo. It resulted to be the handwriting of another guy he met at work. They ended up being a couple and are happily together now."

A _ soulmate _. It seemed impossible. This was the first time Chanyeol had heard that one of those stories didn’t come from imagination.

However, how could he talk about impossibilities when he was a guy who _ saw _sounds?

“What if the melody you hear is your soulmate trying to reach you?”

Chanyeol’s face contorted in mild disgust, Jongdae wasn’t the kind of person to say random romantic things, “Cheesy.”

“Think about it. Perhaps I am right and he is the one that you heard singing.”

"How do you know that the owner of the melody is a _ 'he' _?"

"Dude, you see an extra gay rainbow with that melody, and you like men. I am just stating facts."

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “We have work to do here, you know.”

“Say that to yourself. I am not the one daydreaming about imaginary hot guys” His friend teased, which gained a judging look from Chanyeol, "Now that you remember me, I want you to meet the artist. Junmyeon approved him and I met him yesterday."

"The artist?" Chanyeol glanced at his friend, confused, "Why? Art is not my department. I know nothing about art."

“I know you can’t draw to save your life. But I thought it could be a great idea if you two meet, your kaleidoscopic eye can help him understand better the concept of the album,” Jongdae shrugged, “After all you practically composed and produced it based on the sorcery your eyes and brain do.”

Jongdae had a point there, maybe Chanyeol’s colored point of view could be a form of inspiration to him.

“It isn’t too soon to talk about that topic anyways?”

“Maybe. I know we will finish this earlier than expected so we better be ready.”

Chanyeol let out a small laugh, “Alright alright. When?” 

“Will next Monday be okay for you?”

“Yes.” Chanyeol accepted.

-

On a typical Saturday morning Chanyeol would go for his usual jog at the park. Although, today he didn't feel quite like it. He felt as tired as if he had stayed up all night, which he hadn't done since the last alarm fiasco -he may or may not be scared of staying up late when he has work the next day now-. His limbs also felt sore even though he hadn't gone to the gym recently.

It was... Strange, so Chanyeol dropped the exercising part of his routine and decided to go out for a walk with his dog instead. He guessed a change of plans could be good for him. Plus, Wooyu would never say no to a day out at the park.

He picked up the pink leash and went out of his apartment with his dog, Wooyu was more than happy as expected.

Couple of hours later, Wooyu was running around the park, being the social pup that she is, and Chanyeol was sitting in a bench drinking his strawberry frappuccino. Another change for today. His usual caffeine picks weren’t as sweet as that.

It was a gorgeous day. The sun was up in the sky and the birds were singing around. There were some people sitting at the grass having a picnic even, while Chanyeol was with his eyes closed enjoying the sun.

Certain melody appeared for the first time in the day. However, it had changed its form. Chanyeol heard the same voice from the other day. This time, it could not be mistaken as something else. Chanyeol was sure he had heard someone singing it. 

He tried again looking at his surroundings. Nothing. It wasn't someone at the park, it was all in Chanyeol's mind.

The unknown voice sang the whole version for the second time. Chanyeol stared in disbelief at the grass beneath his feet. 

It had happened again.

And that was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

-

When Monday came, Chanyeol was with Jongdae on their way to their usual coffee shop. It was near the company and, according to Jongdae, they had the best iced americano and strawberry cake in town. 

"Have you heard it recently?" Jongdae asked out of nowhere when they were entering the place.

"More like I can't stop hearing it." Chanyeol went directly to the queue, standing behind an old lady, "I don't know what have caused it but now it doesn't leave my mind. It appears every time."

"I told you that the melody is telling you about something." 

The duo ordered their drinks and went to sit on the table near the window per Chanyeol request. He liked sitting there so he could watch the people outside the place.

"You overreact sometimes Dae." Chanyeol faked that we didn’t want to talk about it. When in reality, he wanted to think Jongdae was right, but he also didn’t want to get his hopes up with crazy theories. 

Chanyeol took his phone out of his pocket to check his social media while waiting for the artist to come. The wait wasn’t that long, soon he heard a voice greeting his friend.

“Hi Jongdae!”

Suddenly, Chanyeol saw little sparks in the corner of his eyes, but he ignored them. The amount of times Chanyeol have heard the same notes over and over again had caused that his vision was filled with a light party more often than not.

The taller from the two looked up and saw how a pink haired guy coming closer to them, excitedly waving his hand.

"Hello, I'm Byun Baekhyun." The guy in question greeted.

If Chanyeol thought what he had previously saw was overwhelming, nothing could compare to this. Not even with a deafening and blinding sounds that startled him.

This was something _ else _.

Chanyeol could heard how Jongdae greeted him back but he saw no characteristic green. His vision was clouded with the most colorful nebulae ever.

It looked like Chanyeol had a galaxy in front of him.

That voice…

Chanyeol recognized it immediately. How could he not if he had been listening to it constantly?

The pink haired sat in front of them, resting his hands on the table, "You must be Chanyeol, right?"

The pink haired lips’ curved into a gentle smile and Chanyeol understood why the colors shined brightly. He was a shining star himself. What he saw wasn’t a galaxy, it was a whole universe.

“Y-Yeah, that’s me.”Chanyeol said hesitant, still surprised by what was happening. What should he say? ‘_ Hey I have heard your voice in my mind before’ _would not work.

The guy froze as soon as he listened to the taller, his face showing as much surprise as Chanyeol, while Jongdae eyes were going from one to the other. 

“I-I can’t believe is _ you _.” The guy, Baekhyun, said in awe.

Chanyeol had discovered all the answers he wanted in front of him.


End file.
